BILL NUMBER: AB 2433	CHAPTERED  09/30/00

	CHAPTER   937
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 30, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 31, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 30, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   AUGUST 10, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JULY 6, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   JUNE 5, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   MARCH 30, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wright

                        FEBRUARY 24, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 7660, 7662, 8801.3, 8802, 8814.5, and
9102 of the Family Code, relating to adoption of children.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2433, R. Wright.  Adoption of children.
   (1) Existing law requires, if a mother relinquishes or consents
to, or proposes to relinquish and consent to, the adoption of a child
who does not have a presumed father, or who otherwise becomes the
subject of an adoption proceeding, and the alleged father has not in
writing denied paternity, waived his right to notice, or voluntarily
consented to adoption, the agency or person to whom the child has
been or is to be relinquished, or the mother or the person having
legal custody of the child, to file a petition to terminate the
father's parental rights, except as specified.
   This bill would additionally provide that the prospective adoptive
parent may file a petition to terminate the father's parental
rights, as specified.
   (2) Existing law provides the signing of an adoption placement
agreement shall satisfy requirements including, if a parent is not
located in this state, the adoption placement agreement shall be
signed before an adoption service provider or a notary or other
person authorized to perform notarial acts in the state where the
birth parent is located.
   This bill would revise that provision to state that if the birth
parent is not located in this state or country, the adoption
placement agreement shall be signed before an adoption service
provider or a notary or other person authorized to perform notarial
acts in the state or country where the birth parent is located.  The
bill would expressly specify that these provisions do not apply to
intercountry adoptions.
   (3)  Existing law provides a list of persons who may petition the
court to adopt a child, which list includes, among others, a
grandparent, aunt, uncle, first cousin, or sibling.
   This bill would expand that list to include any relative of the
child, as specified.
   (4)  Under existing law, a birth parent or parents may revoke a
consent to adoption within 90 days after signing.
   This bill would specify procedures whereby the birth parent or
parents may void the revocation and reinstate the consent.  By
increasing the duties of local employees, this bill would create a
state-mandated local program.
   (5)  Existing law provides that an action to vacate, set aside, or
nullify an order of adoption based on fraud shall be commenced
within 5 years after entry of the order.
   This bill would shorten that period to 3 years.
   (6)  The bill would make related, technical changes.
  (7)  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 7660 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   7660.  If a mother relinquishes for or consents to, or proposes to
relinquish for or consent to, the adoption of a child who has a
presumed father under Section 7611, the father shall be given notice
of the adoption proceeding and have the rights provided under Part 2
(commencing with Section 8600) of Division 13, unless the father's
relationship to the child has been previously terminated or
determined by a court not to exist or the father has voluntarily
relinquished for or consented to the adoption of the child.
  SEC. 2.  Section 7662 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   7662.  If a mother relinquishes for or consents to, or proposes to
relinquish for or consent to, the adoption of a child who does not
have a presumed father under Section 7611, or if a child otherwise
becomes the subject of an adoption proceeding and the alleged father,
if any, has not, in writing, denied paternity, waived his right to
notice, or voluntarily relinquished for or consented to the adoption,
the agency or person to whom the child has been or is to be
relinquished, or the mother or the person having physical or legal
custody of the child, or the prospective adoptive parent, shall file
a petition to terminate the parental rights of the father, unless
either of the following occurs:
   (a) The father's relationship to the child has been previously
terminated or determined not to exist by a court.
   (b) The father has been served as prescribed in Section 7666 with
a written notice alleging that he is or could be the natural father
of the child to be adopted or placed for adoption and has failed to
bring an action for the purpose of declaring the existence of the
father and child relationship pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section
7630 within 30 days of service of the notice or the birth of the
child, whichever is later.
  SEC. 3.  Section 8801.3 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   8801.3.  A child shall not be considered to have been placed for
adoption unless each of the following is true:
   (a) Each birth parent placing the child for adoption has been
advised of his or her rights, and if desired, has been counseled
pursuant to Section 8801.5.
   (b) The adoption service provider, each prospective adoptive
parent, and each birth parent placing the child have signed an
adoption placement agreement on a form prescribed by the department.
The signing of the agreement shall satisfy all of the following
requirements:
   (1) Each birth parent shall have been advised of his or her rights
pursuant to Section 8801.5 at least 10 days before signing the
agreement, unless the adoption service provider finds exigent
circumstances that shall be set forth in the adoption placement
agreement.
   (2) The agreement may not be signed by either the birth parents or
the prospective adoptive parents until the time of discharge of the
birth mother from the hospital.  However, if the birth mother remains
hospitalized for a period longer than the hospitalization of the
child, the agreement may be signed by all parties at the time of or
after the child's discharge from the hospital but prior to the birth
mother's discharge from the hospital if her competency to sign is
verified by her attending physician and surgeon before she signs the
agreement.
   (3) The birth parents and prospective adoptive parents shall sign
the agreement in the presence of an adoption service provider.
   (4) The adoption service provider who witnesses the signatures
shall keep the original of the adoption placement agreement and
immediately forward it and supporting documentation as required by
the department to the department or delegated county adoption agency.

   (5) The child is not deemed to be placed for adoption with the
prospective adoptive parents until the adoption placement agreement
has been signed and witnessed.
   (6) If the birth parent is not located in this state or country,
the adoption placement agreement shall be signed before an adoption
service provider or, for purposes of identification of the birth
parent only, before a notary or other person authorized to perform
notarial acts in the state or country in which the birth parent is
located.  This paragraph is not applicable to intercountry adoptions,
as defined in Section 8527, which shall be governed by Chapter 4
(commencing with Section 8900).
   (c) The adoption placement agreement form shall include all of the
following:
   (1) A statement that the birth parent received the advisement of
rights and the date upon which it was received.
   (2) A statement that the birth parent understands that the
placement is for the purpose of adoption and that if the birth parent
takes no further action, on the 91st day after signing the adoption
placement agreement, the agreement shall become a permanent and
irrevocable consent to the adoption.
   (3) A statement that the birth parent signs the agreement having
personal knowledge of certain facts regarding the prospective
adoptive parents as provided in Section 8801.
   (4) A statement that the adoptive parents have been informed of
the basic health and social history of the birth parents.
   (5) A consent to the adoption that may be revoked as provided by
Section 8814.5.
   (d) The adoption placement agreement shall also meet the
requirements of the Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children
in Section 7901.
   (e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1995.
  SEC. 4.  Section 8802 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   8802.  (a) (1) Any of the following persons who desire to adopt a
child may, for that purpose, file a petition in the county in which
the petitioner resides:
   (A) An adult who is related to the child or the child's half
sibling by blood or affinity, including all relatives whose status is
preceded by the words "step," "great," "great-great," or "grand," or
the spouse of any of these persons, even if the marriage was
terminated by death or dissolution.
   (B) A person named in the will of a deceased parent as an intended
adoptive parent where the child has no other parent.
   (C) A person with whom a child has been placed for adoption.
   (D) A legal guardian who has been the child's legal guardian for
more than one year.  However, if the parent nominated the guardian
for a purpose other than adoption for a specified time period, or if
the guardianship was established pursuant to Section 360 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code, the guardianship shall have been in
existence for not less than three years.
   (2) If the child has been placed for adoption, a copy of the
adoptive placement agreement shall be attached to the petition.  The
court clerk shall immediately notify the department at Sacramento in
writing of the pendency of the proceeding and of any subsequent
action taken.
   (b) The petition shall contain an allegation that the petitioners
will file promptly with the department or delegated county adoption
agency information required by the department in the investigation of
the proposed adoption.  The omission of the allegation from a
petition does not affect the jurisdiction of the court to proceed or
the validity of an adoption order or other order based on the
petition.
   (c) The caption of the adoption petition shall contain the names
of the petitioners, but not the child's name.  The petition shall
state the child's sex and date of birth and the name the child had
before adoption.
   (d) If the child is the subject of a guardianship petition, the
adoption petition shall so state and shall include the caption and
docket number or have attached a copy of the letters of the
guardianship or temporary guardianship.  The petitioners shall notify
the court of any petition for guardianship or temporary guardianship
filed after the adoption petition.  The guardianship proceeding
shall be consolidated with the adoption proceeding.
   (e) The order of adoption shall contain the child's adopted name,
but not the name the child had before adoption.
   (f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1995.
  SEC. 5.  Section 8814.5 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   8814.5.  (a) After a consent to the adoption is signed by the
birth parent or parents pursuant to Section 8801.3 or 8814, the birth
parent or parents signing the consent shall have 90 days to take one
of the following actions:
   (1) Sign and deliver to the department or delegated county
adoption agency a written statement revoking the consent and
requesting the child to be returned to the birth parent or parents.
After revoking consent, in cases where the birth parent or parents
have not regained custody, or the birth parent or parents have failed
to make efforts to exercise their rights under subdivision (b) of
Section 8815, a written statement reinstating the original consent
may be signed and delivered to the department or delegated county
adoption agency, in which case the revocation of consent shall be
void and the remainder of the original 90 days shall be reinstated.
However, in cases in which the birth parent or parents have regained
custody, upon the delivery of such a statement to the department or
delegated county adoption agency, the revocation of consent shall be
void and a new 90-day period shall commence.  The birth mother shall
be informed of the operational timelines associated with this section
at the time of signing of the statement reinstating the original
consent.
   (2) Sign a waiver of the right to revoke consent on a form
prescribed by the department in the presence of a representative of
the department or delegated county adoption agency.  If neither a
representative of the department nor a representative of a delegated
county adoption agency is reasonably available, the waiver of the
right to revoke consent may be signed in the presence of a judicial
officer of a court of record if the birth parent is represented by
independent legal counsel.  "Reasonably available" means that a
representative from either the department or the delegated county
adoption agency is available to accept the signing of the waiver
within 10 days and is within 100 miles of the location of the birth
mother.
   An adoption service provider may assist the birth parent or
parents in any activity where the primary purpose of that activity is
to facilitate the signing of the waiver with the department, a
delegated county agency, or a judicial officer.  The adoption service
provider or another person designated by the birth parent or parents
may also be present at any interview conducted pursuant to this
section to provide support to the birth parent or parents.
   The waiver of the right to revoke consent may not be signed until
an interview has been completed by the department or delegated county
adoption agency unless the waiver of the right to revoke consent is
signed in the presence of a judicial officer of a court of record as
specified in this section, in which case the interview and the
witnessing of the signing of the waiver shall be conducted by the
judicial officer.  Within 10 working days of a request made after the
department, the delegated county adoption agency, or the court has
received a copy of the petition for the adoption and the names and
addresses of the persons to be interviewed, the department, the
delegated county adoption agency, or the court shall interview, at
the department or agency office or the court, any birth parent
requesting to be interviewed.  However, the interview, and the
witnessing of the signing of a waiver of the right to revoke consent
of a birth parent residing outside of California or located outside
of California for an extended period of time unrelated to the
adoption may be conducted in the state where the birth parent is
located, by any of the following:
   (A) A representative of a public adoption agency in that state.
   (B) A judicial officer in that state where the birth parent is
represented by independent legal counsel.
   (C) An adoption service provider.
   (3) Allow the consent to become a permanent consent on the 91st
day after signing.
   (b) The consent may not be revoked after a waiver of the right to
revoke consent has been signed or after 90 days, beginning on the
date the consent was signed or as provided in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (a), whichever occurs first.
   (c) This section shall become operative on January 1, 1995.
  SEC. 6.  Section 9102 of the Family Code is amended to read:
   9102.  (a) An action or proceeding of any kind to vacate, set
aside, or otherwise nullify an order of adoption on any ground,
except fraud, shall be commenced within one year after entry of the
order.
   (b) An action or proceeding of any kind to vacate, set aside, or
nullify an order of adoption, based on fraud, shall be commenced
within three years after entry of the order.
  SEC. 7.  Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.  If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.
